Chicken boarders

[Jennifer Jane]

My ex-batt Mabel has been off colour for a few days. She has been slow-moving, eating very little and not going around with the other hens. She is not interested in any of the usual treats either. Her droppings are few (presumably because she's not eating), but liquid, creamy yellow with black bits in them. Her comb is stilll red but much smaller than the other hens. I initially thought she was going to lay a softy as she has been like this before, but not so.

 

We took her to the vet yesterday - her conclusion was that she has a bit of a temperature, possibly a bacterial infection. She gave her an anti-inflammatory injection and a course of Baytril. Mabel looks otherwise fine, she is bright-eyed and was very interested in what was going on at the vets, she weighs 2kg, so a decent weight for a small bird. She is just so lethargic. At the moment she is sitting in a hole she's dug under the coop.

 

I have two questions. The Baytril is in liquid form, in a syringe and the vet said to preferably add it to the drinking water. I don't want to add it to water as Mabel is not eating or drinking much, so am I ok to syringe it neat into Mabel's mouth? I have been doing so, but suddenly worried that I might have to dilute it and might be doing harm.

 

The second question is about the possibility of worms - could they cause these symptoms? I have been using Verm-ex, not a proper wormer I know. I described the poo with the rest of Mabel's symptoms to the vet yesterday and she didn't say anything about worms, so am I just an over anxious chicken mother? Mabel seems to be getting more withdrawn by the day, though not sure if the stress of visiting the vet and being force fed Baytril is contributing to this.

 

I know I can (and probably will) contact the vet again when they open, but I'm not sure how much experience they have with poultry, so I will be grateful for any additional advice you can give.

 

Many thanks

[Egluntyne]

I would syringe the Baytril into her beak. Mix it with Ribena or similar to kill the bitter taste. If you haven't got a syringe, pop to the supermarket, where they will have them in the baby section for administering medicines.

 

I would worm her with Flubenvet when the course of antibiotics is finished. I wouldn't do it at the same time as it isn't a good idea to bombard a sick hen with too many meds if you can avoid it.

[Jennifer Jane]

Thanks! I don't have any Ribena or similar but I need to pop to the supermarket later and will get some. The Baytril comes in a syringe but I will get another one at the same time so I can administer the exact dose. It's a bit difficult to keep your eyes on the dosage, keep the beak open and ensure the liquid is going in at the same time. I would never have thought of the baby section, being childfree - this forum is so informative .

 

In the meantime I can order some Flubenvet or ring the vets to see if they stock it.

 

I did wonder if she was hiding from us because of all the manhandling and force drinking she's been subjected to recently. She's the grumpiest of the girls usually. Fingers crossed she will be on the mend soon and out in the sunshine.

[Surfnirvana]

Hiya,

I had to give Baytril to my Rose recently, as she had peritonitis. The syringe worked a few times, but it was a bit of a struggle. In the end, i got a small piece of bread, squirted the right amount on to the bread with the syringe. Then got Rose on my lap and gave her the Baytril Bread, which she gulped down in a heartbeat. No probs! Naturally I had to give bits of "untreated" bread to the other three chooks otherwise they'd be extremely upset! Also, my vet advised us not to eat her eggs whilst she was on the Baytril. She perked up really quickly.

Hope yours does too.

[Jennifer Jane]

Hi Lynne, thanks for the advice. Mabel didn't seem to be eating at all for a couple of days, so I didn't want to chance the bread thing, but it's something I will remember for the future. She certainly doesn't like the squirty method.

 

Anyway, we were prepared to read the last rites on Monday, but she seemed to perk up a bit yesterday and is eating and drinking a tiny amount though she still seems very delicate. So I tried giving her a bit of wet bread to see if she would take it and she did eat a bit of that. There is just one dose of Baytril left, so here's hoping it's done the trick. It's good to know it worked for Rose.

[Surfnirvana]

Well, I hope your Mabel continues to improve. They are such a worry aren't they, but worth every moment!

[staceychristie]

Hmmm, Our Lucy has been the same as yours. We could only get her to eat wet bread, but also tried cod liver oil soaked exbatts pellets. She's a bit perkier today, but still not right.

 

She layed a 'LASH' (according to info from 'RedWing' on this forum which looked like a kidney bean and 2 peas. (See Slow,Sleepy and Off Food posting http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=59674&start=15 )

 

Anything unusual found in the nest box? Mind you, with all your girls they may have eaten it. One of the other girls laid exactly the same Kidney bean and peas a few days ago, and she's been fine with no symptoms.

 

Good luck

 

Stacey

[sandyhas3chucks]

sometimes it takes a follow on course of baytril to "sort" them, you could phone your vet and ask, she should be pretty well back to normal at the last dose. so don't give up

[Jennifer Jane]

Thanks to everyone for your advice and support. Mabel seems to be on the mend now. We knew she'd turned the corner when she pecked our cat Max for getting too close and she is out free ranging happily with the other two at the moment. She's still not as bouncy as the others, but my hope is for her to experience a few warm summer days (if we have any).